Evening Star Newspaper, July 14, 1929, Page 81

4 ¢ 1 ] ¥ 1 i | a L] q ] ¢ 8 3 5 - S l”\l\T s —— ¢ W\\HIN( TON, D. (‘., SUN DAY he Sundy Ftar | : . Magaszine ]UIY 14, 1929. PIGTURES IN 870 Bishop James E. Freeman inspecting stone-cumng operations at the Cathedral. Master Craftsmen, Cutting Stone for Washington’s Fourteenth Century Catbedml Have Re vived an Ancient Art in Pre parmg Lzmestone—Buzldc ers Have ' § umed Back NOTHER temple like that of Solo- mon’s is in the building on the crest of Mount St. Alban, the most commanding elevation in the Dis- trict—a magnificent religious edifice which is # charming throwback, so to say, to the archi- tectural perfections and the craftsmanship arts of the fourteenth century. ° This likening of the Washington Cathedral which is growing gradually into a colossal na- tional shrine to that famous biblical temple of Bolomon is appropriate in more respects than one. For the gargantuan stones used in the construction of that ancient edifice were pre- pared for.use by skilled workmen far from tlhe actual site of the building, even as the modern inat)erials now being fabricated into the Wash- ton Cathedral are cut, chipped, carved and hisled several miles from Mount St. Alban. bolomons wisdom, epochal though it was for that. day and age, was not adequate to pro- duce = the mechanical titans and electrified giants now yoked as the building aides of mod- ernity. . What the masons of Solomon’s era achieved by the might of muscle and the har- nessed strength of ponderous dumb beasts, pres- ent-day artisans duplicate by merely opening gasoline throttles or turning electrical switches. Modern cathedral builders accomplish in years what their predecessors effected in decades or centuries. Modern machinery and efficient, methods of construction speed cathedral build- ing in ways which would have appeared mirac- ulous to the ancients. - The idea of a cathedral in the National Cap- i\‘,al originated more than a century ago with George Washington, who, during the infancy of the new republic, recommended the erection of an' appropriate church for ' national purposes close to the Federal seat of government, Maj, Charles L'Enfant indorsed the Washington idea and in the original plans for the American Cap- ital -mention was made of the need for such a structure. From then until 1891, the scheme By Gene A. Day. apparently went to seed and nothing tangible was accomplished in its permanent reproduc- tion in stone, steel and structural members, THmTY-EIGHT years ago Charles C. Glover interested a group of prominent men in a revived and revised plan for a cathedral church and cathedral schools. Several years later Con- gress granted a charter providing authority to the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation of the District of Columbja to establish and maintain a cathedral and institutions of learn- ing in Washington for the promotion of re- ligion, education and charity. Which, in brief, is the official “how come” of the outstanding constructional campaign now in progress in the latitude of the Massachu- setts avenue highlands. Venerable building methods have been set to new music in en- riching the beauty and crcating unusual spirit- ual expressions in this twentieth century tem- ple which is rising in glory to crown Mount St. Alban. Although designed and built - during the current age of commercialism and inven- tion, the Washington Cathedral, rich in spiritual charm, turns back time’s curtain and reveals architectural attractions which excel those of the notable medieval churches built during the period when the art of building design was re- puted to be in finest flower. An enduring record in constructional excel- lences is being written in solid limestone rock imported from Indiana for the building of the Washington Cathedral. Thistransformation of erstwhile subterranean material into arches, facades, - buttresses and decorative symbelical ornaments which will withstand the challenges of wind and weather and will inspire increased religious fervor in the centuries to come is a dramatic performance of measurable popular appeal. Mythical Hercules, unquestionably, would have shunned the stupendous assign- ment of providing some 261,000 caived and molded stones weighing from 300 to 500 pounds apiece as the ribs and skeleton, foundations and superstructures for this ecclesiastical mas- terpiece. ' The efficient science of modern con- struction, however, accepted the contract with avidity, Some time after the cathedral began to hatch into actuality from the original nebulousness of plans and blueprints, the largest stone cutting plant in the environs of Washington came into being near the borders of Bethesda. Thousands of motorists who have rolled along the winding drives of Kenwood or who have reviewed the pastoral beauty of the countryside from the heights of Somerset have noticed that indus- trial plant set down beside branch railroad sidings. Few know that it is an establishment constructed as a subsidiary to the cathedral building campaign. It is the efficient and ver- satile stone-cutting plant in which raw lime- stone rock from the bowels of Indiana’s rolling i hills are béautified architecturally and prépared for utilitarian and decorative use in the mam- moth church. X NS " Even as this article was being written, the Washington Cathedral authorities were signing 4 new rock contract. It stipulates the provision’ of the first 50,000 cubic feet of carved and molded limestone for the building of another $3,000,000 unit in the cathedral. The’ present indications are that this new division of the great temple will not be completed before mid~ Winter in 1932. It is hoped to have it ready for a wonderful ceremonial celebration of the 200th: anniversary of the birth of Geofge Washington.: ‘The marked efficlency of the stone-cutting’ - plant is illustrated by the fact that it produces as much rock material for Gothic construction in three weeks as a similar crew of master masons could cut by hand in one year, Elec- trical power, stuhl.ndmoumhwfl difficult tasks are responsible for this difference in achievement. The eventual products are as flneasthebestemtumedmbytheclu- pion masters of fabric of antiquity. Modern machinery adds speed to a task which formerly wasasslowandhboflmuumywonh- dustry’s calendar. ' Every stone—b2 it small or large—is an oNeet of utility in Gothic architecture. That is, in addition to being decorative, even the most ornate rocks are utilitarian. - To the average layman, the decorations atop some of the but- tress tips at the’new cathedral might appear superfluous. Notwithstanding, they really are essential, for in addition to 1g. the touch of artistry, they also provide enough ballast to prevent the buttresses from bulging outward. Each stone is subjected to four drafting and five mechanical processes in preparing it for ulti- mate repose in the cathedral Walls. TKERE are five different types of stone em- ployed in the building of this national shrine. Of these 146,000 are catalogued by the architects as plain stones which are valued at $10 apiece. Seventy-nine thousand others are molded stone which are each worth $50. . Thirty thousand nine hundred are classified as carved stones which are listed at $100 apiece, while 5,000 sculptured stones are appraised at $300 each. These values have been estimated and. published for the Benefit of those organizations and individuals who are interested in ccontribut-’ ing stones for the cathedral. Many have pur< sued 'this intriguing form of contribution. So~ cial, fraternal and- religious -organizations, in particular, have purchased and donated various types of stones for that * - The spaciousness of the cnthednl is evidenced by the 71,000 square feet of fioor area which 14 will eventually inclose. * You may well assume ° that a fortune will be expended in the 4 stained glass which will ‘beautify the 1 sive. wlndowu in the main church. It will ag=: °